In this case, the justification is, I think, simpler than that. The restrictions exist largely because the command executes synchronously. (There may be some security considerations too.)
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No takers?
Anyone with a UPERFECT lapdock able to confim whether, when playing sound via the lapdock:
- the left and right channels are swapped?
- the audio/video drops out intermittently?
I tested AV output from the Librem 5 to my TV (using a USB-C to HDMI dongle) and it seemed to work fine, so I donât think there is a generic problem with this functionality with the Librem 5.
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Okay this is fun. I did a series of tests, both with the Sound Settings application (the one which opens from the pull-down menu next to the volume slider, it has a âTestâ button and two âfront leftâ / âfront rightâ buttons) and with a âstereo testâ YouTube video. Here are the results:
- As far as I know the Librem5 itself, despite having two sets of holes at the bottom, only ever emits sound from the left side. (EDIT: seems the right set is the microphone)
- Plugging a USB headset directly into the phone : the channels are INVERTED (I hear âfront leftâ from the right side. HOWEVER I have a doubt now: have I been wearing it backwards ever since? Thereâs no L/R indicators!
- Plugging the UPERFECT Lapdock with a usb-c - usb-c cable: the channels are CORRECT (I hear âfront leftâ from the left side)
- Plugging Jack headphones directly into the phone: channels are CORRECT
- Plugging Jack headphones into the lapdock (itself connected through usb-c) : channels are CORRECT
- Plugging the phone to the TV with an HDMI adapter: channels are CORRECT.
I have an old mini-HDMI cable but itâs plugged in my Raspberry PI and if I even look at it the wrong way, it stops transmitting images so never mind attempting to unplug it, so, sorry, I canât test the lapdock HDMI input.
(I do have another mini HDMI cable somewhere that I received wirh the lapdock but canât remember where I put itâŚ).
Funny (or not) thing is that after all these experiments, my lapdockâs keyboard and touchpad no longer work. Hopefully that will fix itself after a reboot⌠(EDIT: indeed all good again after a reboot)
Anyway: tl; dr: it works for me. And Iâve been wearing my headset backwards for years.
2nd EDIT: I donât notice any video drop out when playing videos on the lapdock. Iâve a feeling that video playback is not super fluid (very short pauses in the video every now and then, but not in the audio) but that happens identically when playing on the phone itself when no screen/headphones are plugged in.
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Lucky you! My UPERFECT lapdock has no spare USB ports. Only an SD card reader I never use and a headphone jack I never use either (except today for testing). I ordered a DELL dock with (allegedly) a usb-C out supporting video to put between the phone and the lapdock so I can hopefully plug stuff like a mouse into the dock while using the lapdock. (I suppose Bluetooth might be another option but that would mean yet another device I need to recharge.)
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OK, thanks for taking the time to do some testing.
One question though ⌠what specific model of UPERFECT lapdock? Mineâs the 15.6", which I suspect very few Librem 5 customers have.
And, yes, while I was testing I had a pair of headphones that are clearly marked âleftâ and ârightâ. However even without using headphones, it is reasonably evident that sound is coming out of the wrong speaker on the lapdock.
To be clear ⌠I am playing audio in the background via the lapdock while using the lapdock as a regular laptop i.e. just working with windows and applications. So I am not even attempting to play video (which has its own challenges with the current state of the Librem 5 software, at least on byzantium).
My next test might be to put a USB audio dongle on the spare USB port on the lapdock and then plug the headphones into the dongle - to see whether this is an HDMI (really DisplayPort) problem or a generic audio problem with the lapdock + Librem 5 combination. (Of course that gets away from the neatness of the lapdock as a solution but this is just for testing.)
What I really need, for fault isolation, is another device that is capable of outputting video over USB-C but I donât think I have such a device.
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